Video; un: R.BECKET

[righthemisphere]

[Hey all, been a few months. You remember this guy. The shirtless guy with the giant mech. Well he's back. Clothed, this time. Though he might get more help if he were shirtless again, huh. Alas.

Raleigh is outside, sitting next to a planting bed, lush with vegetation. Like so much. It's a suspicious amount of plant life for Trench.

He smiles and waves. It's dark, but there are little torches all over so it's got a luau kind of vibe.

The camera pans so you can see the garden properly. It's two huge raised beds full to the brim on either side of the walkway to a huge, newly finished greenhouse . Lit from the inside, she looks something of a crystal palace.]

Do you all see this? This is the future.

I dunno about all of you but I'm sick to death of mushrooms.

[He pans through the veggies, all growing happily under warded netting. Lettuce, tomatoes, squash, beans, corn. Familiar for a lot of people. Very rarely seen in this world.]

Last month all my powers turned into plant stuff so I've been making and growing as much as I can. Things are hard here and the soil is awful, but it can be done.

[Raleigh moves towards the green house. Free range chickens dart around his feet as he goes, looking for food. He's the mama. Some of them are wearing little crochet hats. Inside the greenhouse is table after table after table of seedlings. The other side is all planting beds full of soil ready to go.]

I've been thinking about how important food is to all of us. Not.. well, obviously it's important, but I mean culturally, too. Making food from home.. having ingredients from home.. that's kind of our last connection.

[He sets his Omni down and reappears in frame. He looks tired, but when doesn't he.]

So.. Is there anyone out there who cares about this stuff? Because honestly I have the land but I'm learning as I go along and I could use the help. I'm not a gardener but I think we can scale this in a way that means we all get access to fresh produce. Like a co-op thing? I dunno. The land needs purifying, water, there's no sun.

I was part of a seed bank back in Deerington. Has anyone saved seeds from last month's growth? Would you donate them towards the cause?

Oh- also dairy. That's something I want to work on. This is a stretch but if you have goats or cattle let me know.

Yeah.. okay. Okay, thanks.

Comments

Video; un: lothrat

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Oh hey, he is so here for this.]

This is my jam. This what I spent a lot of my last year doing. Ok, not the corruption part. Greenhouses, farming, herding goat like creatures and doing the dairy and wool thing.

I do have some seeds from last month. I haven't started the garden I meant to yet, because lack of sunlight.

[righthemisphere]

[Well, hello like minded stranger. Welcome to the Sleeper's Farming Association of Trench. There's squad jackets.]

Yeah, this is definitely a wrench in the plan. If I don't figure out something soon all these little guys are goners.

The wool thing you said is interesting. What do you know about that?

[ezra_of_lothal]

[It's taken him a while to find his mental footing here, but he's ready to get to work.]

We'd use a stiff comb to brush out clumps of wool, and then several of us would use spindles to hand spin into thread. For the one weaver in town to use.

It was a place sort of like this one, where people would turn up from all over the multiverse. But like, 60 people, at most.

You've already got a much bigger operation going, clearly, but I'd be happy to pitch in.

[righthemisphere]

[A spinner, that's amazing. Raleigh has no idea what the textile industry is like here. Something akin to psycho-future hell industrial revolution from what he can gather but he wouldn't say no to incorporating that if they could get some sheep or angora rabbits. Maybe an alpaca? That would be cute.]

Well hey, we'd be grateful for the help. Our first steps will be tilling and purifying the soil. We get a lot of monsters out here at Trenchwood Farm and all that blood pollution sinks right in.

[ezra_of_lothal]

The blood pollution is a tough nut to crack.

Oh! I can't directly purify the soil - or...I don't know how to, but I can, uh, fertilize plants with spiritual energy a little?

It's a Jedi thing.

[righthemisphere]

[Aaaand this conversation is now completely derailed.]

WOAH, wait, wait you're a Jedi??

[ezra_of_lothal]

[He's vaguely confused as to why Raleigh knows what a Jedi is, yet seems so shocked.]

I am. [He trails off, looking uncertain. And then breaks a smile.]

Let's try this from the top. I'm Padawan Ezra Bridger. So...not a Knight yet- [If he'll ever hit that milestone. Somehow.] Just a student.

You're...Raleigh, right?

[He doesn't have the mental bandwidth to keep up with all the public network traffic - who does? But he does remember the building giant robots against the Leviathan. And of course he saw the results in action.]

[righthemisphere]

Yeah! Yeah, I am. Raleigh Becket.

[Shit a Jedi knows his name, that's so cool. And sure, he knows Obi-Wan vaguely and he's spoke with Luke a little in passing about the greenhouse, but this is a Jedi who knows his name without Raleigh having to introduce himself first.

Check him out, moving up in the world.]

[ezra_of_lothal]

Your giant robot was pretty amazing up against that beast that came out of the ocean.

[righthemisphere]

[Oh.

A shadow of something painful crosses Raleigh's face and through his voice.]

Well... we gave it our best shot.

[It wasn't good enough, but it was something. He doesn't think that counts but that's what happens in a war. Things go wrong. Things change. Things aren't what you think they'll be.]

The support is kind. Thank you.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[Ezra's expression firms up into solemn and determined. Yes, there were losses, and he regrets those. Wishes he could have done more, too. But the non-combatants stayed safe, and he's been in too much war to dismiss that success entirely, especially now that he's had some time to think and gain the perspective he hadn't had freshly out of the battle.]

We held the line. Together. And we couldn't have done it without you.

[righthemisphere]

[Raleigh nods a little. He isn't in the space to re open this can or worms. Better just to agree.]

Yeah. Yeah, we did good. And we'll know for next time, huh.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[There's a half a breath of still silence, and then Ezra just...drops the topic, eyes refocusing on the greenhouse behind Raleigh.

His words aren't helping; he'd rather focus on what he can do.]

I'm happy to bring you some of those seeds. Put my name down for shifts, if you get a roster going.

[righthemisphere]

[He appreciates that Ezra allows the pivot and nods.]

Yeah, I will. I'll send it along this week, okay? In the meantime, stop by whenever to have a look around. I'm either here or selling in Willful Machine.

[ezra_of_lothal]

[His expression warms back into a slight smile.]

I'll come by, definitely. Is there time that's best?

[righthemisphere]

I'm up early, so any time from four thirty, five.

[ezra_of_lothal]

Yep, I usually do the getting up right before... well what would be dawn most months thing, too.

Then I'll be by a little after 5 tomorrow, if that's ok?

[righthemisphere]

Perfect, man, I'll see you then.

[The morning crew! It's growing! Finally!!]